Collie W. Conoley

Acculturation, White Marginalization, and Family Support as Predictors of Perceived Distress in Mexican American Female College Students.

This study examined the influence of psychosociocultural variables of acculturation, White attitudinal marginalization, family support, and income on perceived distress in 247 Mexican American female college students. Participants were bicultural and attended primarily White universities in the West and Southwest. Results showed that comfort with White cultural values, perceived support from family, and financial support are related to lower perceived distress for participants. Implications for counselors addressing perceived distress in Mexican American female college students are provided.

University Environment as a Mediator of Latino Ethnic Identity and Persistence Attitudes.

The authors examined whether the perception of the university environment mediated the relationship between ethnic identity and persistence attitudes of Latino college students. Participants were 175 Latino college students who attended a primarily White university. The results supported the hypothesized mediating role of the university environment. Higher Latino ethnic identity was associated with perceiving a more negative university environment and feeling less committed to finishing college. In turn, perception of a negative college environment was associated with feeling less committed to finishing college. When perception of the university environment was removed, no significant relationship was found between ethnic identity and persistence attitudes, indicating that it is the perceived context that influences Latino college students persistence attitudes.

Construction and validation of the Intragroup Marginalization Inventory.

This study reports the development and validation of the Intragroup Marginalization Inventory (IMI). The IMI consists of three scales that assess the extent to which an individual perceives interpersonal distancing from family, friends, and ethnic group community members. Intragroup marginalization is defined as the interpersonal distancing that occurs when an acculturating individual is believed to exhibit behaviors, values, and beliefs that are outside the heritage cultures group norms. Intragroup marginalization is based on social identity theory that asserts that groups maintain their identity by the distinctive behaviors of its members. When an acculturating individual displays behaviors or attitudes that differ from the heritage culture groups norms, the group may respond to the threat with social alienation of the transgressor. The results support the IMIs validity via a) content validity in the development of the items, b) construct validity in the selection of the factors based upon an exploratory factor analysis, c) the replicability of the factors based upon a confirmatory factor analysis, and d) discriminant validity through examining the relationship of the factors with other established measures.

Mexican American Adolescents' Perceptions of a Pro-College Culture.

Three focus groups of ninth-grade Méxican American students explored the factors contributing to a pro-college culture. The students participated in the federal initiative program called “Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.” Analysis revealed specific student, family, peer, and school personnel influences toward a pro-college culture. The focus groups allowed for examining differences between the groups of students at varying risk of not attending college. Implications for school personnel are discussed. Tres grupos de enfoque con estudiantes México Americanos en noveno grado (tercero de secundaria) exploraron los factores contribuyentes a una cultura pro-universitaria. Los estudiantes eran participantes en el programa de iniciativa federal llamado Obteniendo Conocimiento y Preparación Temprana para Programas Universitarios. Análisis revelaron específicas influencias del estudiante, la familia, los compañeros y el personal escolar las cuales forman una cultura pro-universitaria. Los grupos de enfoque permitieron examinar las diferencias entre los grupos de estudiantes de acuerdo a riesgos variados para no ir a la universidad. Se discuten implicaciones para personal escolar.

Circular Questioning and Neutrality: An Investigation of the Process Relationship

This study investigated the possibility that interventive circular questions violate the principle of neutrality advanced by the Milan school as essential to the practice of systemic family therapy. A method for categorizing circular questions as interventive or descriptive was developed to explore neutrality violations. Neutrality was operationalized as client perceptions of therapist side-taking and feelings of discomfort. Immediately after family therapy, individual family members viewed videotape replays of moments when circular questions were posed and rated their perceptions of therapist side-taking and feelings of discomfort for each selected moment. Findings indicated a greater tendency for non-neutrality with interventive questions. Neutrality was also represented as multidimensional through the lack of correlation between side-taking and discomfort ratings.

Using client positions as a technique for increasing the acceptability of marriage therapy interventions

Abstract This study investigated the use of intervention rationales that matched the participants positions or beliefs in marriage therapy. Positions were conceptualized as the implementation of a constructivist stance by making use of the participants beliefs. Positions were investigated by comparing 3 rationale conditions. The rationales either matched a participants positions or mismatched his or her positions, or no rationale was provided. Couples were instructed to role play a marital problem. The participants completed a questionnaire that allowed the experimenters to identify their positions, that is, their beliefs and feelings about their identified problem. Experimenters designed individualized treatment rationales that matched and mismatched the participants positions. Three standard interventions were paired with an individually constructed matching rationale, a mismatching rationale, and a no-rotionale control condition to form 3 treatment recommendations. Participants rated each treatment...